Black's successor leads off on stand

Former Hollinger International Inc. Chairman Conrad Black came face-to-face in federal court Wednesday with the man Black asked to investigate management fees.

Gordon Paris took over the company after Black was ousted in 2004 and was the first witness to take the stand against Black in the $60 million corporate corruption trial. Paris testified that Black asked him to become a member of Hollinger's board in 2003.

"He asked me if in joining the board I would be willing to conduct an investigation of management fees," Paris said.

Paris agreed to join the board and led a special committee that in 2003 issued a blistering report accusing Black, top deputy David Radler and other executives of bilking millions from the company through bogus non-competition fees.

That report became the basis for Black's removal and ultimately his November 2005 indictment on federal fraud charges. After Black was removed, Paris was named chairman and chief executive.

It is unclear how much, if anything, Paris will testify to regarding the special committee. Defense attorneys have objected to the report.

When Assistant U.S. Atty. Eric Sussman attempted to refer to it Wednesday, attorneys for Black and his three co-defendants objected in unison.

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve ruled Paris could use the report to refresh his memory, but jurors weren't permitted to hear anything about it.

Paris stepped down as Hollinger chairman and CEO in 2006 but remains on its board. The company is now known as the Sun-Times Media Group, and its holdings include the Chicago Sun-Times and a number of suburban papers.

Earlier Wednesday, attorneys for two other defendants, former Hollinger executives Mark Kipnis and John Boultbee, gave opening statements.

Kipnis' lawyer, Ronald Safer, said that prosecutors were attempting to pin crimes on an honest man who was simply doing the best job he could.

Prosecutors charge Kipnis handled the paperwork and transferred funds from those sales to co-defendants. He also helped conceal from Hollinger's board that those funds were ill-gotten, prosecutors allege. They charge that Kipnis was paid $150,000 in return.

Safer answered that Kipnis always dealt openly and honestly with Hollinger's board. "Mark did the best he could with the information he had," Safer said.

Boultbee's lawyer, Gustave Newman, attacked Radler, the former Sun-Times publisher who is a government witness. Newman said Radler is a known liar who has concealed business deals and changed his story about what he knew when.